Othello's Flaws

A tale of lies and deception usually ends in chaos and a path of cold blooded murder. In William Shakespeare’s Othello, the flaws of the main character, Othello, leads to this path of cold blooded murder. Near the closing lines of the play Iago, who has lied to Othello and given him the false reason to kill his wife, is confronted by Othello once he is caught in this lie. Othello then kills Iago. However, because Othello has previously slayed his wife, the wounding of Iago proves to be one of Othello’s main flaw.

Perhaps the character flaw that is most evident is his inability to correctly read or perceive the intentions of those around him. This leads Othello to incorrectly read his wife’s and Iago’s behavior, resulting in Othello’s demise. Part of his misperception leads to his secondary emotion, jealousy, which he exhibits towards Desdemona. Both aspects of his personality shed light on the reason for Othello’s fall.

Iago is a creature of a most deceptive and evil nature. He manipulates and controls the direction and outcomes of the entire plot until the revelation of his wicked plan to all at the very end. By putting on an act of honesty and earning the trust of those around him, he holds their fates in his hands. No less is true of Othello. Iago spends the course of the play developing an honorable reputation with him so that he might plant seeds of suspicion, doubt, and jealousy in the heart of Othello. The audience cannot blame him for his trust in Iago for, “His opinion of Iago was the opinion of practically everyone who knew him: and that opinion was that Iago was before all things ‘honest’.” (Bradley) Othello, in his afore mentioned quality of judiciousness, seeks proof out of Iago and questions him again and again. He wants to be certain of truth before taking rash action. Iago, in his brilliant ability to control others, is able to give Othello false and deadly proof in the form of deceived confessions from Cassio and by planting the infamous handkerchief into his hands. Othello has more reason to put faith in a proven friend whom he knows well, than in his newly wed bride.

Life is a challenge between the good and bad, virtuous and evil, white and black and even heaven and hell. People are normally categorized by these stereotypical titles based on various perspective. But in all honesty, there is no complete pure good in people but instead there is always some mixture of black in the human soul. Humans are filled with emotions, and those feelings are what creates faults. No one is a hundred percent pure because no one is perfect. In the book, Othello, by William Shakespeare, the faults of people is clearly shown through the protagonist, Othello. He is a black general for the Venetian army, who apparently is in love with Desdemona, a pure and noble lady. The antagonist known as “honest” Iago

Iago is successful in corrupting Othello’s mind by inducing a false situation to turn Othello insane. Othello has become insecure about his commitment to Desdemona as the play progresses. When he hears Iago say “In sleep, I heard [Cassio] say ‘sweet Desdemona, Let us be wary, let us hide our loves!’” (3.3.475-476), Othello starts to worry and lets his emotions take over, saying “I’ll tear her all to pieces!” (3.3.490). He is overcome by anger because he believes that Cassio dreamt about Desdemona and now wants to kill Cassio because he is allowing Desdemona to cheat on Othello. However, Othello also wants Desdemona killed in order to make sure that the cheating woman does not sleep with anyone else. This scenario does not turn Othello fully

While Othello’s actions are rooted in his insecurity and jealousy, his tragic flaw is his trust in others. Othello’s ancient Iago reveals that “[t]he Moor is of a free and open nature, that thinks men honest that but seem to be so” (1.3.382-383). Othello trusts every man without question, despite all the adversity he faces. Eventually Othello reaches a breaking point and murders his wife, cementing his downfall from his noble position. Once Othello recognizes that he has slain his wife, he cries out “it should be now a huge eclipse/Of sun and moon” (5.2.100-102). Othello realizes that jealousy obscured his mind and drove him to senseless actions, but only after he lost all status and his wife. Most importantly, the main difference between Othello and Okonkwo is that Othello recognizes himself as the cause of his downfall. When Othello is confronted by others, he asks them to speak of him as “one that loved not wisely but too well” (5.2.353-354). By asking others to refer to himself as a man who loved not to wisely and was foolish, Othello recognizes that he alone caused his demise. Othello is a traditional tragic hero with a tragic flaw, an upsetting downfall, and recognition of himself as the cause of his downfall. Othello’s flaw and downfall convey the theme that blind trust can transform

He trusts Iago and takes Iago’s word for proof. Iago takes advantage of this trust to feed Othello lies about Cassio and Desdemona. Throughout the play, Iago leads Othello by his nose and makes Othello destroy himself and his loved ones. Another weakness that makes Othello particularly vulnerable is his rashness and shortness of temper.

When Iago told Othello that he saw Cassio and Desdemona being alone, Othello was over-demanded by Desdemona for Cassio and let him begin to hate her. He even "think my wife be honest and think she is not; think that thou art just and think thou art not" (III.iii.400-401). His "evil" is the beginning. Let anger and resentment make Othello lose his sanity. Iago's plan is successful.

Iago tells a series of untruths with the intention of hurting Othello, he has many reasons to do so, one interpretation definitely might be that he is jealous that Othello chose Cassio to be his (Othello’s) second in command rather than him, but some readers will interpret the play that it is not Cassio that he is jealous of but rather of the alleged affair of his wife with Othello (Act 2.1.224) – he wants to pay Othello back for what he did. He suspects that Othello slept with his wife, but fails to provide either evidence or any form of investigation. He gives Othello a taste of ‘his’ own medicine called jealousy, also known as “The Green-Eyed Monster” (Act 2.1 Part 2:273-4 and Act 3:3:169). Iago fails as a human to sympathise with another, his response in explaining his motive was so inadequate that it was tragic by itself (Act 5.2 Part 2.302-3). Iago is a sadistic, cruel and mean-spirited character whose intentions could also be viewed as pointless because he had no true motive, with which, modern psychologists would call him a psychopath rather than being a tragic

William Shakespeare, born in the year 1564, is often considered to be one of the greatest, if not the greatest, writer in the English language. His works range from ingenious poems, such as Fear No More, to plays, such as The Tragedy of Othello. In The Tragedy of Othello, Shakespeare details the story of a celebrated military hero who falls victim to the machinations of a conniving villain who goes by the name of Iago. In his play, he portrays Othello like a tragic hero, a type of literary character. A tragic hero has many characteristics, 3 of them being that they must have an error in judgement, they must have a reversal of fortune, and they must recognize that the reversal of fortune was brought about by their own actions. Furthermore, they must also have a fatal flaw, that eventually leads to their downfall. Othello demonstrates all of these characteristics in the play, proving him to be a tragic hero. Othello makes an error in judgement, which leads to his change in fortune, and later realizes that his actions are what caused said change in fortune.

Othello, one main character in Othello, is one person that is affected by illusions. His beliefs on his true love, Desdemona, are destroyed and dismantled to where he wishes the death of her. In the beginning of the play Othello’s true nature and his love from others is displayed. One man that thinks highly of Othello is the is the Duke of Venice. It is clear to the Duke that Othello is, “valiant,” and the Duke knows he, “must straight employ [him],” because of the immediate threat of the Ottomans, (I. iii. 56). The Duke choses to do this, because it is clear to him that Othello is a good man, but also a great soldier. He knows that if he is able to have Othello on his side then he will be able to win any war. Othello is also a man of

In the play Othello, the Moor of Venice, Shakespeare talks of Venetian army general, named Othello, and how his life is troubled by a junior officer in the army called Iago. The interaction between Iago and Othello sets the play into motion, as Iago uses Othello’s main weakness, which seems to be love, to set him into a jealousy that finally destroys Othello and other people who Iago falsely accuses of having an affair with Desdemona, Othello’s wife (Shakespeare & In Bevington, 2014). However, Othello, as one of the leading characters of the play, has admirable character traits like strength, loving, hardworking, respectable, courageous, and experienced military man. However, he has various weaknesses like naivety and gullibility among others, based on racial grounds and which finally end ascertaining his downfall. When Othello rises to the position of a general, after his victory in a war, he faces various challenges, and his relationship with others change, the main one being the relationship with Iago who sets to ruin him using his love for Desdemona.

Shakespeare’s Othello is a perfect example of how a tragic flaw ultimately leads to the downfall of the protagonist. In Shakespeare's Othello, the protagonist Othello is mislead by a series of actions by the antagonist Iago, a soldier who occupies the role of an Ancient and who is offended by Othello for overlooking him for the role of Lieutenant, the actions and behaviour of Iago and the influence he eventually gains over Othello ultimately lead to Othello’s impassioned demise because of Othello’s tragic flaws such as being too trusting, making rash decisions and jealousy. Othello is one of Shakespeare's most notorious plays related to tragedy, Othello is a tragedy because Othello suffers from a tragic flaw which is Jealousy. Othello can

The tragic hero is not only meant to be superior in position; he must also have a superior morality (Kennedy & Gioia, 2016, p. 858). This works in Othello’s favor, for what he lacks in title, he makes up for in character. As evidenced by his skill as a warrior and harrowing background, Othello is a man of significant courage and perseverance (Shakespeare, trans. 1992, I.iii.130-70). Desdemona further acclaims his character when she declares that she “fell in love with his deep graces in spite of all the external reasons that might have been expected to keep them apart” (I.iii.249-60; Golden, 1984, p. 147). In other words, despite his race, it was Othello’s virtue that won Desdemona’s heart. Even at the play’s denouement, after Othello has been cunningly deceived into both murdering his wife and plotting Cassio’s death, Cassio still grieves the late Othello, insisting he was “great of heart” (Shakespeare, trans. 1992, V.ii.371-72). However, perhaps most telling of Othello’s noble character is what Iago – the antagonist who adamantly abhors Othello – says about his

In the story, “Othello, the Moor of Venice” by William Shakespeare, Othello is without a doubt a tragic hero. Othello is viewed as a noble and well-respected general but, through the course of the story he a flaw. This flaw causes a dilemma, that’s out of Othello’s control and leads him to his downfall; making him a tragic hero. Othello expresses the elements of a tragic hero because he is well regarded, cares jealously, and has a downfall near the end of the story.